Can Ronaldo, Messi finally fulfill WC dream?

Regarded by many as the best players in the past decade and even the greatest of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are deemed to be the focus at World Cup in Russia where could be their last appearances together as the playmakers of each team at soccer's biggest stage.

Some critics believe that fans of generations are lucky to witness an unprecedented decade since 2008, when each of the duo has grabbed a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards.

However, despite their triumphs at club level, leading the national teams to become the world champions is a dream of them yet to achieve and it becomes seemingly more elusive as both stars are over 30-years-old and in their later part of a dazaling soccer career.

With 100 days to away from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Ronaldo and Messi are not in their most prolific year, though they still maintain their forms and lead the clubs.

Ronaldo topped the Champions League scorer list for Real Madrid and reaped in his 300th goal in Spanish La Liga recently. The 33-year-old Portugal striker hoped to repeat the glory with the national team in 2016 Euro Championships, but he clearly knows the task in Russia will be more challenging.

"Portugal is not the favourite to win the trophy. We need to progress from the group first, and then go as further as we can," said the forward in an interview, referring to the group where the former world champions Spain were also drawn into it.

While for Messi, the Barcelona star playmaker just scored his 600th senior career goal from a free kick early this month. Four years ago in Brazil, Messi led Argentina to the final but lost to Germany 1-0. And this time in Russia, it probably will be the last chance for fans to see Messi still in his peak of the career, fighting for the trophy.

Behind the duo, the player regarded as the best of the new generation is Neymar. Four years after the disastrous defeat to Germany in 2014 World Cup, the 200m Euros world record signing became more mature in his role both in Paris St-Germain and Brazil. And in a more balanced national team boasting of Philippe Coutinho and Casemiro, Nermay and "Five Star Brazil" have all the reasons to defend their status as the king in football.

However, Neymar's injury in late February has cast a shadow on Brazil's trophy prospect. According to the Paris St-Germain statement on March 4th, Neymar has undergone a "successful" operation and his injury will be assessed in six weeks' time to decide a possible date for his return to training.

Though he is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup in June, it remains a question as how close he can reach to his peak form.

Besides Brazil, the defending champion Germany, technique-leading spain, Belgium with a "golden generation" and well-balanced France, are all among the favourites.

The regrets of the tournament are the absence of the traditional powerhouses Italy and the Netherlands. The art of defence in "Blues" and attacking talents of "Oranje" are always the indispensable elements in a World Cup.

Their absence of them results in fading away of a generation of legend players like Gianluigi Buffon and Arjen Robben, and also proves that the gap between the teams is getting smaller nowadays as the best footballers from all over the world all play week by week in the European leagues, which usually finish a season in May.

The players' performance, fitness and forms in the clubs always have more influence on their competitive level in national teams. So, "injury-free" must be the wishes of the head coaches from the 32 teams heading to Russia in the following three months.